Drafter
Clerk 07/12/2002
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AN ORDINANCE approving the Adult Justice Operational Master Plan.
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PREAMBLE:
King County's criminal justice system, that includes law enforcement, secure detention, prosecution, indigent defense, and adjudication of criminal matters in superior and district courts, accounts for over two thirds of the county's discretionary expenditures. While these responsibilities are mandated by constitutional, statutory, and other requirements, the county has a great deal of flexibility in establishing levels of service. In recognition of the fact that increases in criminal justice expenditures are outpacing the county's ability to pay for these increases, the county council required the development of master plan for the county's adult criminal justice system in hopes of duplicating the successes of the juvenile justice master plan that reduced juvenile crime and the need for new juvenile detention facilities. As a result, King County's adult justice system has been engaged in an intensive effort to explore alternative types of sanctions, identify justice system process improvements that will reduce costs and make the best use of limited detention resources in order to promote public safety and preserve jail capacity for those offenders for whom jail is the only option and reduce the use of secure detention in the county.
This effort is in accordance with K.C.C. 4.04.200, which provides that an operational master plan set forth how an organization will address its workload now and in the future.
Through Motion 11001, the King County council approved the work plan for developing the Adult Justice Operational Master Plan.
The Adult Justice Operational Master Plan was directed by an advisory committee made up of elected officials and agency heads from county government, cities and state criminal justice agencies, and human and community service providers.
The recommendations of the advisory committee to the executive that are co...

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